MAX Update No. 79: Incredibly Good Mileage (127 MPG!)

Reader Contribution by Staff
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The Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge competitors during a rare stationary moment, as shot from over MAX’s hood. The yellow and white bike on the right is event organizer Craig Vetter’s streamliner, which may be the future of motorcycling.

So I made it to AMA Vintage Days at Lexington, Ohio, one hour late for the riders’ meeting (I goofed by a time zone) but timely enough to get signed up and join the pack at the race track bright and early the next morning, for the latest Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge.

These Challenges are a series of motorcycle fuel economy competitions, and for this one, Craig Vetter opened the field to a couple of high mileage automobiles–MAX and a plug in electric conversion of a Prius. It was an opportunity to demonstrate what MAX can do in normal driving, and have somebody besides me verify the results, so I jumped at the chance.

The closer we came to the start date, the more it looked like MAX would break the 100 mpg barrier in public, which was pretty exciting to me. The weather was predicted to be exceptionally hot and humid, which reduces air density, and thus reduces aerodynamic drag and improves mileage, and most of the ride was going to be on rural roads so we’d mostly be going slower than freeway speeds. Coupled with a lack of wind, and with the so-called “hills” of central Ohio being pretty tame compared with what I’m used to in western Oregon, and with MAX’s latest aerodynamic improvements, and lightening MAX of a hundred pounds of tools and camping gear and luggage the night before the event, I was feeling pretty cocky about my chances for a three-digit mileage score.

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